HANGZHOU, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) — When teenage diver Quan Hongchan ascended from the 10m platform into the air, the scene would possibly transport these near her again to a sweltering summer season day 9 years in the past.
It was a faculty day when the younger lady from the countryside performed hopscotch together with her classmates on the playground in Zhanjiang, south China’s Guangdong Province, and a coach observed her. Chen Huaming, a former diver and coach from Zhanjiang City Sports School, discovered her dexterous and noticed that she might soar increased and longer.
“He taught me diving at school in Zhanjiang,” Quan recalled. “I had never tried any other sports before, but I enjoyed playing in the water. Jumping from the platform into the water ahead of other kids without hesitation was a good start for me.”
The coach’s judgment was correct. In the ladies’s 10m platform remaining of the Hangzhou Asian Games on Tuesday night, the 16-year-old diver secured the gold medal with an impressive efficiency, significantly together with her practically flawless second dive, incomes full marks from all seven judges.
The competitors wasn’t with out stress. Quan led within the first three dives, at one level with a margin as huge as 20-plus factors, earlier than being surpassed by her teammate and three-time world champion Chen Yuxi. However, she managed to stay composed and safe the victory.
As one other Chinese diver revealed privately, Quan is definitely a vigorous lady. Like most ladies her age, she loves snacks, amusement parks, and grabbing dolls with doll-grasp machines. Her favourite is a blue one given by her elder brother, the colour of a swimming pool, which she locations on her mattress. The squashy toy is a quiet companion that helps her ease stress.
But not like her friends, she must work extraordinarily onerous on her coaching, with the preliminary intention of enhancing her household’s residing normal and serving to her mother treatment sickness. Quan’s house is situated within the Maihe Village of Zhanjiang, a small village with fewer than 2,000 folks. Her mother and father have 5 youngsters to feed with meager revenue from the orchard. In 2017, her mother was disabled in a site visitors accident.
Growing up in such harsh situations, the lady was courageous and hardworking. Before coming into the sports activities college, she could not even swim. However, she was the primary amongst all the brand new entrants to step on the 3m springboard and the 10m platform. Was she afraid? “I didn’t think that much,” Quan replied. “I just closed my eyes and jumped.”
She quickly fell in love with diving. “I cried a few times,” she admitted. “But I love the sport so much that I always encouraged myself to keep on trying. I want to win, like the elder brothers and sister.”
China has by no means been in need of elite divers. The “elder sister” Quan talked about is Guo Jingjing, who collected 4 Olympic gold medals in her profession, whereas the “elder brothers” are world champions Chen Aisen and Xie Siyi.
Quan rose to fame on the Tokyo Olympic Games after successful the gold medal within the ladies’s 10m platform with a brand new mark of 466.20 factors. As the youngest athlete in China’s delegation to Tokyo, Quan turned the second-youngest Chinese gold medalist within the occasion in Olympic historical past.
She quickly gained numerous followers. In Tuesday’s match, Hu Jiajia waved a banner with Quan’s identify on it on the spectators’ stand. “I love the contrast of her composure in the competitions and her simplicity outside the arena,” Hu stated. “She is so true, which is very precious nowadays and at her age.”
In the nationwide group, she additionally wins the love of her teammates. Her archrival Chen, one 12 months older than her, is sort of a huge sister.
Quan certainly has a great distance forward. For now, perhaps her subsequent objective is the Paris Olympics in 2024. “My dad told me to stay true to my dream,” Quan stated. “My dream is to be the champion.”